My Time as a Sky Tech Scholar

By Kike Oniwinde, Sky Tech Scholar

There’s a saying that you learn something new every day and Sky’s Women in Technology Scholar programme was no exception.  

I’ve had a great experience working with Sky and have had the opportunity to be featured in the media, including the Evening Standard and New Electronics magazine, which is great for my profile. By being part of the programme, I’ve gained so much confidence and it’s motivating knowing that Sky believes in me and backs me as a young leader in technology. The programme has opened many opportunities for me and has helped me to get noticed within my current organisation (Rolls-Royce) as well as others. 

I’ve presented my project in front of Sky UK’s Chief Technology Officer and his first line team, which was a great opportunity to showcase my work as well as network with senior tech professionals. 

Last year, I was invited to be a panellist at one of the largest cyber security conferences by NATO’s Communication and Information Agency, alongside some very high-profile leaders, to contribute to a discussion about attracting diverse talent in the tech industry. It was fantastic to be involved and if you’re interested, you can watch the panel discussion here. 

As a Scholar, I wanted to do something challenging and push myself outside my comfort zone. I presented my idea to the tech experts at Sky, and they highly appreciated it. 

My mentors, Debbie Forster and Marta Vasiljevski, are very knowledgeable and it was great that I could seek advice from them about my project. They’ve been really supportive, and I’ve learnt a lot from them.  

My idea! 

I started my project work alongside my fulltime job and I was dedicating a lot of my free time (mainly the weekends!) to work on this. I’m developing a predictive analytic model using machine learning algorithms and the real-world applications can be either business or community purposes. 

I downloaded open source datasets from online repositories, started working with simulated run-to failure engine data and used historical data from the various engine sensors to train my predictive model. This model then can be used to predict the remaining life of the engine sensors in operation, which will help drive predictive maintenance and save costs from unexpected damages/faults during service.   

The other phase of my project is to work on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help the community. I’m a passionate STEM ambassador and regularly interact with children and young people to inspire them into a STEM career. So, I’m working on how the predictive model can help the local community, particularly underprivileged/vulnerable children and young people. The benefit of using machine learning algorithms will help local authorities and support givers to detect early signs of vulnerability and identify children who may require some tailored support and advice. 

First time, my interest in predictive analytics model grew, when my idea of real-time manufacturing and operational data access to create predictive smart engines was shortlisted for the Telegraph’s STEM award 2017 in the power system category, which was sponsored by Rolls-Royce. This was about creating an intelligent system of sensors using the Internet of Things, for various parts of aircraft engines, which improves the reliability and the maintenance of Rolls-Royce’s products for their customers. This news was covered by the Telegraph newspaper on 30^th April 2017.  

Since then, I carried on developing my skills in the field of Machine Learning and AI and I spend a lot of my time doing online courses to develop my skills further and have started learning about various machine learning algorithms and techniques such as regression, classifications and clustering. I can now use Machine Learning Studio, which is a platform that allows developers to build their own predictive model and then deploy it as a web service, meaning that other people can use the model and receive data prediction. 

The future 

My project work is still on going and is something I will carry on working in my spare time. I’d very much like to write a paper and am planning to present my work at the ACM-W Research conference in Rome, Italy, later this year. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is the world’s largest scientific and educational computing society. 

I am very grateful to Sky for making the programme a great experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed working with them. The whole Scholarship programme team is amazing and they’re willing to go above and beyond to make it a great journey for the scholars. 

The advice I’d give to anyone planning to apply to be a Women in Technology Scholar, is to go for it. It’s an amazing opportunity with ample support to develop you and your project. 

To find out more about this programme please visit: https://www.skywomenintechscholars.com/home